Morgan Smith Reporter

Morgan Smith
reports on politics and education for the Tribune, which she joined in November 2009. She writes about the effects of the state budget, school finance reform, accountability and testing in Texas public schools. Her political coverage has included congressional and legislative races, as well as Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign, which she followed to Iowa and New Hampshire.
In 2013, she received a National Education Writers Association award for "Death of a District," a series on school closures. After earning a bachelor's degree in English from Wellesley College, she moved to Austin in 2008 to enter law school at the University of Texas.
A San Antonio native, her work has also appeared in Slate, where she spent a year as an editorial intern in Washington D.C.

The number of Texas students with non-medical exemptions to school immunization laws has soared statewide in the last decade. How does your school district fare? Check out our handy search tool to find out.

New DFPS Commissioner Hank Whitman, a former Texas Ranger, testifies July 12, 2016 to the House Committee on Human Services about his plans to reform the agency, including having the regional commissioners reapply for their jobs.

Flowers sit on the dash of a Dallas Area Rapid Transit police motorcycle as it is used to block off the scene where, the night before, snipers targeted police officers, killing five, after a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in downtown.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, enters room where he will announce information on a lawsuit filed in U.S District Court against several federal agencies regarding bathroom and locker room rules in Texas public schools on May 25, 2016

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton approached at least one other North Texas school district about adopting the transgender student bathroom policy that is now the center of his lawsuit against the Obama administration.

Texas, joined by 10 other states, filed a lawsuit Wednesday to stop a federal directive instructing school districts to let transgender students use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity, state officials announced.

An already bitter Republican primary runoff for a Texas house seat has turned uglier in the final days before early voting begins as court filings from one candidate’s divorce andchild custody battle take center stage.

On Thursday, a court heard arguments on Ken Paxton's request to dismiss criminal charges related to private business deals made before he became AG. Use this timeline to to keep up with the legal and political drama.

Sen. Bob Hall, R-Rockwall, hosts the Texas Grid Security Summit 2016 at the Texas Capitol in Austin on April 27, 2016. The session deals with how to make the power grid safer from electromagnetic radiation attacks nationwide.

For the past year, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has used taxpayer-funded security teams and drivers to travel at least twice and as many as four times a month to North Texas where he has a home and businesses, according to records obtained by The Texas Tribune.

A new sticker for the state's gas pumps comes with a few additional flourishes: Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller's name emblazoned across the top and a disclaimer blaming gas taxes on Congress and the Texas Legislature.